The Reason
by Sevish
Summary: My glimpse into what the final battle might be and Harry's reason behind his actions. (one-shot) (descriptive violence, implied torture, character death)


**The Reason.**

Alone in the midnight dreary, stood a young dark haired, desolate looking boy; his tattered and torn robes caked in his own blood. The ominous storm on the broken grounds of the ruins that used to be his school thundered spitefully as it's rains riddled to two occupants with its blackened desires. Yet he stood with eyes wide and poise ready, clutching the large radiant white staff in his hands.

Across from him stood a tall man just as badly beaten as the boy. The two huffed with muffled fatigue; the man was a tall lanky man whose lips and eyes squashed together as a snake's would.

Beneath that venomous serpentine man was the reason for this forsaken duel. A young girl, her icy pale skin, her blood soaked and torn clothes undressed her to the point of nudity. In her limp, doll-like, state gave her nothing of her former self.

These two titan's had been clashing since they met on this field and it had come to the last blow of the fruitless match. Wordlessly they glared, their eyes writhing over each other's beaten countenance looking for any type frailty to be exploited. Finally, and with bullet-like speed the boy acted. "Infernos!" He shouted as a hellish tongue of fire screamed toward the snake man like a recent escapee from hell.

"Protectoruius" said the man with a gentle wave of his wand as the inferno cascaded around him with no ill effect. The serpent then pointed his wand at the spot that the boy was standing "Avada Kedavra!" The killing spell howled into the boy's chest, and for a moment the serpentine man smiled with sadistic glee. Then the boy vanished as if a cloud of black smoke. In the twinkling of an eye the snake-like man found himself impaled on the pointed end of the boy's staff as it protruded from his chest where his murky heart had once been.

As his life's blood ebbed from both the wound in his chest and fang snap that he called a mouth, the boy leaned in to the serpent's ear with a hatred the likes of which had never been seen before and pushed the staff deeper. "You went too far when you touched her!" he twisted the staff to be sure that the shriveled heart stopped beating. Then the reptilian man did something the boy had not expected, he smiled.

"This body may die, but I will return." He hissed

"No, you won't." Chorused a melodic feminine voice as the boy and the monster beheld three luminescent figures as they approached. A stag, a dog and a woman, peaceful yet fierce stalked toward the bloodily violent scene. When they reached the entwined pair the woman stretched out her luminescent fingers and plunged them deep into the monster's chest wrenching a screaming maggot of dark energy of essence from it. "Come Tom, it is time that you faced judgment." She said as the boy dropped the now limp body of the Serpent and resisted the urge to succumb to his own fatigue and do the same as the body he had just dropped. The dog and stag walked to him and gazed into his eyes as if pleading with him not to do anything to himself now that his purpose had been fulfilled.

"Don't worry. Just make sure he doesn't bother anyone ever again." Said the boy as all four entities began to fade like the whisper of a thousand winds. The woman looked at him and just before she evaporated a message was delivered to his brain. "Take care, Harry."

Harry Potter, nearly eighteen years old, now sat in the make shift medical ward of the great hall beside Hermione Granger. It had been three weeks since his fight with Valdemort and his best friend, Ronald Wesley, had been taken to recover at his parent's house. He had to admit had it not been for his two best friends he never would have found the courage or will to defeat Valdemort. What had it gotten them? Ron had been hexed into with in a millimeter of his life and Hermione, Harry gritted his teeth at the thought, had gotten the worst of it before Harry had arrived. Harry had always had a special connection with Hermione and Valdemort took advantage of this particular fact to get Harry on his own terms. Harry scanned Hermione's bruised and battered body, she had been tortured for the expanse of a month. Valdemort wanted to use her against him, to use her to change Harry into an ally but it was all in vain as Hermione never once gave in. Harry had felt every ounce of her pain. In the end she was tortured so that Harry's anger would make him sloppy, but Valdemort's plan had backfired. The anger and pain that Harry felt only served to focus him and awakened the arch mage training Dumbledore had been quietly sneaking into Harry's everyday school life since he had been eleven. All that was moot at this point as Hermione had been in a coma since the fight and did not look to be coming out any time soon. Suddenly, Harry remembered the only good memory he had of his mother the way she would sing to him when he was sick, a song found it's way into his head and he began to sing.

"I'm not a perfect person  
As many things I wish I didn't do  
I never meant to do those things to you  
And so I have to say before I go  
That I just want you to know  
  
I've found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
and the reason is you  
  
I'm sorry that I hurt you  
It's something I must live with everyday  
And all the pain I put you through  
I wish that I could take it all away  
And be the one who catches all your tears  
That's why I need you to hear  
  
I've found a reason for me

To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
and the reason is You.  
  
I'm not a perfect person  
I never meant to do those things to you  
And so I have to say before I go  
That I just want you to know  
  
I've found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
and the reason is you."  
  
I've found a reason to show  
A side of me you didn't know  
A reason for all that I do  
And the reason is you"

Looking up Harry saw two large beautiful brown eyes, staring questioningly back at him. "Harry?"

"Hermione?" he felt his voice quiver as a single tear rolled down his quickly reddening cheeks.

"Did we win?"


End file.
